2008 Woodie Awards
Research emphasizes importance of exercising self-control
by Brittany Talarico
Issue date: 11/2/07 Section: News
The ability to exercise self-control is crucial to human life. Unfortunately, according to new research at the University of Toronto Scarborough, self-control is a limited resource that can run out. The lack of self-control leads to many large-scale societal concerns including obesity, crime and delinquency.
Researchers have compared self-control to a muscle. The more one lifts weights, for example, the stronger his or her muscles become. Similarly, self-control can increase if stimulated.
Through this research, the conductors of the study hope to create a list of exercises that provide people with methods of practicing self-control. They are currently studying self-control as a restricted resource.
Michael Inzlicht, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Toronto Scarborough, studied how the brain functions when self-control is lost and vulnerability takes over. The results of the study were published in the November issue of Psychological Science.
Inzlicht said the anterior cingulate cortex, on the interior of the brain, is the key section to the brain related to self-control.
"In a way, it is almost a watchtower," he said. "When people are depleted and suppress emotion, this part of the brain is not firing optimally."
The study involved a controlled experiment of 40 college students, Inzlicht said. One group of students was subject to a depletion condition and the other was placed in a control group.
In the depletion condition, students were asked to watch an emotional documentary and suppress their emotions, he said. The control group watched the same movie without any restrictions.
After the movie, each group completed a second test, the Stroop task, Inzlicht said. Participants looked at a computer screen as different colored fonts appeared with the words "red," "blue," "yellow" and "green" and stated what word was listed. This task is easy to complete when the color and word match, but difficult when they do not because people have an automatic desire to read words rather than recognize the colors, he said.
Researchers have compared self-control to a muscle. The more one lifts weights, for example, the stronger his or her muscles become. Similarly, self-control can increase if stimulated.
Through this research, the conductors of the study hope to create a list of exercises that provide people with methods of practicing self-control. They are currently studying self-control as a restricted resource.
Michael Inzlicht, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Toronto Scarborough, studied how the brain functions when self-control is lost and vulnerability takes over. The results of the study were published in the November issue of Psychological Science.
Inzlicht said the anterior cingulate cortex, on the interior of the brain, is the key section to the brain related to self-control.
"In a way, it is almost a watchtower," he said. "When people are depleted and suppress emotion, this part of the brain is not firing optimally."
The study involved a controlled experiment of 40 college students, Inzlicht said. One group of students was subject to a depletion condition and the other was placed in a control group.
In the depletion condition, students were asked to watch an emotional documentary and suppress their emotions, he said. The control group watched the same movie without any restrictions.
After the movie, each group completed a second test, the Stroop task, Inzlicht said. Participants looked at a computer screen as different colored fonts appeared with the words "red," "blue," "yellow" and "green" and stated what word was listed. This task is easy to complete when the color and word match, but difficult when they do not because people have an automatic desire to read words rather than recognize the colors, he said.
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